Donald Trump has big plans for his first day in office. The man convicted in Laken Riley’s murder gets a life sentence. And Pope Francis is set to canonize the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint.
Here’s what to know today.
Trump’s plans for his first day in office
President-elect Donald Trump plans to waste little time when he begins his second term in office. On Day One, expect him to sign a flurry of executive actions and overturn some Biden-era policies, more than half a dozen people familiar with transition planning said. The changes, a Trump campaign official said, will come at a pace that is “like nothing you’ve seen in history.”
When it comes to overturning policies put in place by President Joe Biden, Trump is expected to end travel reimbursement for military members seeking abortion care and to restrict transgender service members’ access to gender-affirming care, two people familiar with the plans said.
But much of Trump’s Day One goals will likely focus on stopping illegal immigration, the centerpiece of his candidacy. Three Trump allies said he is expected to sign at least five executive orders aimed at dealing with the issue. That’s as many orders as he signed on all issues during the first week of his previous term. “There will be a push to make a huge early show and assert himself to show his campaign promises were not hollow,” a top ally said.
But what about other pieces of Trump’s agenda? He promised he would end the war between Russia and Ukraine within 24 hours. He also promised a package to end taxes on tips and Social Security benefits. In the years since Trump was last in office, his administration’s alumni and allies have been crafting policies he could put in place. Enacting all of those changes, however, won’t come as quickly.
More Trump and politics coverage:
- Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy floated ending remote work for federal workers in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal that laid out their first concrete policy suggestions in relation to their new “government efficiency” roles.
- Trump named former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker as his pick to be the next ambassador to NATO, a key alliance that Trump has long criticized.
- Serious allegations of sexual impropriety against three of Trump’s Cabinet picks have been thrust back into the spotlight.
- Members of the House Ethics Committee did not reach an agreement on whether to publicly release a report about their investigation into former Rep. Matt Gaetz.
- Trump’s selection of Dr. Mehmet Oz to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, coupled with Oz’s evolving views on health care policy, leave open a question of what an overhaul could look like.
- North Carolina Republican lawmakers, who are slated to lose their supermajority in the state Legislature next year, voted to strip the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general of key powers.
- California voters rejected a ballot measure that would have increased the minimum wage in the state to $18 per hour.
Man given life sentence for murder of Laken Riley
The man accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, bringing a conclusion to a case that became a flashpoint in the immigration debate earlier this year. Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally in 2022, waived his right to a jury trial and did not testify in his own defense.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that Ibarra killed Riley after she fought off his attempt to rape her, pointing to DNA and other evidence that they said linked Ibarra to Riley on the day of her murder. Defense attorneys argued that the evidence did not tie Ibarra to the killing without a reasonable doubt. Before sentencing, Riley’s family members and friends delivered victim impact statements. Allyson Phillip, Riley’s mother, called Ibarra a “monster” who “took away every beautiful memory we won’t ever be able to make with her again.” Read the full story here.
Yesterday saw developments in two other high-profile crime stories:
→ Susan Smith, the mother who shocked the nation 30 years ago when she admitted to killing her two sons, was denied parole.
→ A judge ruled that prosecutors can seek the death penalty against Bryan Kohberger if he is convicted in the 2022 killings of four University of Idaho students.
DOJ calls for breakup of Google and sale of Chrome
The Department of Justice is calling for Google to divest its Chrome browser, following a ruling in August that the company holds a monopoly in the search market. Chrome, which Google launched in 2008, provides the search giant with data it then uses for targeting ads. The DOJ said that forcing the company to get rid of Chrome would create a more equal playing field for search competitors.
Additionally, the DOJ said that Google should be prevented from entering into exclusionary agreements with third parties like Apple and Samsung. The DOJ also said that Google be prohibited from giving its search service preference within its other products, and suggested forcing the search company to divest its Android mobile operating system would also aid in restoring competition
Search advertising accounted for $49.4 billion in revenue in parent company Alphabet’s third quarter, representing three-quarters of total ad sales in the period. Read more here.
Pope to give Catholic Church is first millennial saint
The world is about to get its first millennial saint: a teen informally known as “God’s influencer.” Pope Francis announced yesterday that Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15, will be canonized during the Jubilee for Adolescents in April, according to Vatican News. Not only will he be the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint, he’ll also be the first digital saint.
Acutis was a web designer who documented miracles online and used his skills to maintain websites for local Catholic organizations. The church has attributed two miracles to him.
Read All About It
- Artist Maurizio Cattelan’s “Comedian,” which is just a banana duct-taped to a wall, sold at an auction for more than $6 million.
- The FBI is investigating whether a spate of burglaries at the homes of pro athletes — including the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce — is linked to a transnational crime ring.
- Indiana University has long been known as a basketball powerhouse, but its college football team is 10-0 and nationally ranked. Here’s how the Hoosiers football team became an overnight success.
- “The Simpsons” actor who voiced Milhouse Van Houten and a slew of other characters is retiring from the show after 35 years.
- The movie “Rust” debuted more than three years after the fatal on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Director Joel Souza reflected on the tragedy in an interview with NBC News.
Staff Pick: The weird and wacky treasures at HomeGoods
A lanky horse statue. A bust of a woman with bubbles on her head. A Christmas mannequin with a pine needle skirt. These are some of the quirky items TikTok users have discovered during trips to their local HomeGoods stores. Turns out there are enough oddball items on shelves that scavenging for the weirdest finds has become a trend. Culture and trends reporter Daysia Tolentino talked to two creators about their viral video and the magic of a HomeGoods treasure hunt. — Saba Hamedy, culture & trends editor
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
More retailers have started their early Black Friday sales. NBC Select’s editors rounded up the best ones at Best Buy, Target and more.
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